The United Nations World Food Programme is to collaborate with NEC Corporation for the development of the first information platform to provide end-to-end visibility of supply chains for pandemic interventions, on behalf of the Global Pandemic Supply Chain Network.

Millions of times every day logistics operators get the right package to the right place at the right time. Occasionally things go wrong, but rarely so catastrophically as they did for one of the world’s biggest accountancy and consultancy partnerships, PwC.

Amazon has patented the transport of goods from drones to homes via parachute. This comes soon after the e-commerce giant patented an airborne fulfilment centre designed for service deliveries made by drones.

SSI Schaefer has completed the development of a large beverage distribution centre in Germany for A. Kempf Getränkegroßhandel, a subsidiary of Edka Südwest. The new site includes a combination of manual and fully automated picking systems.

Fulfilment by Amazon delivered over two billion items for its marketplace sellers last year. The fulfilment service delivers products to the customers of independent sellers and brand owners in Amazon Marketplace, a similar platform to eBay.

Just before Christmas the news emerged that Amazon has applied for a patent on an airborne fulfilment system that uses an airship floating at 45,000 feet to hold stock and a fleet of drones to handle the actual deliveries.

Yusen Logistics has chosen Swisslog Warehouse & Distribution Solutions to implement its AutoStore Automated System in Singapore. The system involves the use of autonomous robots, which sit on top of an aluminium grid.

UPS has launched its first eBike – an electrically-assisted tricycle which is designed to deliver packages. The launch, which is in a testing phase, coincides with the delivery company’s pledge to reduce carbon emissions.